Lollie Trusts the Lord for Father's Recovery
Lollie Crease Lewis was attending school in the city of Little Rock and blissfully under the impression that her father's health was improving. After she received letters from her mother at home, however, Lewis was concerned to hear that her father's condition had actually not improved at all. Lewis was concerned enough to write to her mother on February 11 and 12, 1882 to see if she should leave school to come home and be with her father. In her letter to her father, Lewis expresses her confidence that the Lord would make sure things turned out for the best, and tries to reassure him with religious wording.
After the Civil War, women, like Lewis, especially turned to the church for support, and constituted two-thirds of church membership. Women were able to fulfill leadership roles within the church that were unavailable to them outside of it, and were able to feel empowered and hopeful through participation in different charities and church activities. Solidarity and common interest were emphasized for women in their church experiences, much like they were in African American churches. Women like Lollie were able to draw hope from their religion and the South as a whole echoed the women's needs for hope in what seemed to be a series of hopeless situations. To find this support, Southerners drew away from standard denominations and turned to Methodism and other new sects, and eventually gave rise to the Pentecostal movement. Citations
Letter from "Lollie" Crease Lewis to Laura Crease Lewis, Mss 6528-b, Papers of Bunch, Crease, Lewis, Warwick, and related Virginian Families, Special Collections Library, University of Virginia.
Chinese Immigration in San Francisco
Chinese immigration was an important issue in San Francisco in the mid 19th century. The Burlingame Treaty of 1868 gave the Chinese full rights to immigrate to the United States. When an economic depression hit in the 1870's, an intense competition for jobs lead white residents to become extremely opposed to Chinese immigration. In the May 21st, 1876 issue of the Daily alta California newspaper, it was announced that leading Chinese merchants had telegraphed their correspondents in China asking them to "tell all shippers- either by sailing vessels or steamers- to carry not over 100 passengers; or do not send any goods by them. The newcomers are doing nothing, and it will be dangerous to all if more come as present."
The people in San Francisco wanted the Chinese in China to know that because of the depression, it would be of no benefit for them to keep coming into California. The article ends by saying, "it cannot be for the benefit of the Chinese Companies here to have their countrymen come in such numbers, if they cannot obtain work, and become burdensome to their countrymen here." Despite the desires of San Francisco's white population, immigration continued. A year after that news article, anti-Chinese mobs rioted in the Chinese parts of the city, burning buildings and lynching 22 Chinese. In 1880, the Burlingame Treaty was revised to allow regulation of immigration. Citations
"The Chinese Immigration," San Francisco Daily Alta California, May 21, 1876, 1.
A Country Wedding in 1846
One November afternoon, Eliza Moore Chinn McHatten Ripley and her brother Dick set off for a farm not too far outside of their home in New Orleans. This short journey became a longer one as transportation troubles and creek flooding slowed them down. Eventually, Eliza and Dick found a place to stay over for a night before continuing on their way the following morning.
They finally reached the farm to find the place in a state of chaos. Their reason for visiting was to attend a wedding, but theirs was not the only late arrival. People were having difficulty bypassing the flooded creek that gave Eliza and Dick so much trouble just a day earlier, and even the preacher from New Orleans had missed the train The family continued to set the table with a plethora of homemade treats, including ice cream that was seasoned by boiling a whole vanilla bean in the milk; it was frozen in a huge cylinder without any inside fixtures to stir the mixture; it was whirled in the ice tub by hand-and a stout one at that-and required at least one hour, constant labor, to freeze the cream - while the bride fretted and wrung her hands in an upstairs room.
After the carriage had waited and waited at the station for the preacher to arrive, something had to be done. Although Mr. Jahleel Woodbridge, the missing minister, was a dear family friend, guests were getting fidgety and the poor bride was beside herself. General McCausland, the father of the bride and master of the house, took matters into his house and sent someone to fetch a neighboring Methodist preacher. This replacement wasted no time; he came straight from plowing his fields and presided over the ceremonies in his farm clothes. After the successful completion of the wedding rites, he congratulated her on her 'escape from the quicksands and shoals of celibacy' and headed back to his crops. Only moments after the hero of the day had taken his leave, Mr. Woodbridge came riding up to the house.
In the countryside right outside a bustling New Orleans, weddings were the large social affairs of the year. As indicated by Eliza and Dick's trials along their way to the ceremony, southerners were willing to go to great lengths to see their neighbors, friends and family members married. These same people also came, sometimes from great distances, to assist with the necessary wedding preparations.
Weddings were an expected rite of passage for young southern men and women. Girls were considered to be of marrying age once they were approximately 16 or 17 and had learned the necessary domestic skills it took to run an entire household. No wonder the bride that got married that particular day in November of 1846 was a nervous wreck: she had quite a daunting task ahead of her. Citations
Lollie Trusts the Lord for Father's Recovery
Lollie Crease Lewis was attending school in the city of Little Rock and blissfully under the impression that her father's health was improving. After she received letters from her mother at home, however, Lewis was concerned to hear that her father's condition had actually not improved at all. Lewis was concerned enough to write to her mother on February 11 and 12, 1882 to see if she should leave school to come home and be with her father. In her letter to her father, Lewis expresses her confidence that the Lord would make sure things turned out for the best, and tries to reassure him with religious wording.
After the Civil War, women, like Lewis, especially turned to the church for support, and constituted two-thirds of church membership. Women were able to fulfill leadership roles within the church that were unavailable to them outside of it, and were able to feel empowered and hopeful through participation in different charities and church activities. Solidarity and common interest were emphasized for women in their church experiences, much like they were in African American churches. Women like Lollie were able to draw hope from their religion and the South as a whole echoed the women's needs for hope in what seemed to be a series of hopeless situations. To find this support, Southerners drew away from standard denominations and turned to Methodism and other new sects, and eventually gave rise to the Pentecostal movement.
Citations
Chinese Immigration in San Francisco
Chinese immigration was an important issue in San Francisco in the mid 19th century. The Burlingame Treaty of 1868 gave the Chinese full rights to immigrate to the United States. When an economic depression hit in the 1870's, an intense competition for jobs lead white residents to become extremely opposed to Chinese immigration. In the May 21st, 1876 issue of the Daily alta California newspaper, it was announced that leading Chinese merchants had telegraphed their correspondents in China asking them to "tell all shippers- either by sailing vessels or steamers- to carry not over 100 passengers; or do not send any goods by them. The newcomers are doing nothing, and it will be dangerous to all if more come as present."
The people in San Francisco wanted the Chinese in China to know that because of the depression, it would be of no benefit for them to keep coming into California. The article ends by saying, "it cannot be for the benefit of the Chinese Companies here to have their countrymen come in such numbers, if they cannot obtain work, and become burdensome to their countrymen here." Despite the desires of San Francisco's white population, immigration continued. A year after that news article, anti-Chinese mobs rioted in the Chinese parts of the city, burning buildings and lynching 22 Chinese. In 1880, the Burlingame Treaty was revised to allow regulation of immigration.
Citations
A Country Wedding in 1846
One November afternoon, Eliza Moore Chinn McHatten Ripley and her brother Dick set off for a farm not too far outside of their home in New Orleans. This short journey became a longer one as transportation troubles and creek flooding slowed them down. Eventually, Eliza and Dick found a place to stay over for a night before continuing on their way the following morning.
They finally reached the farm to find the place in a state of chaos. Their reason for visiting was to attend a wedding, but theirs was not the only late arrival. People were having difficulty bypassing the flooded creek that gave Eliza and Dick so much trouble just a day earlier, and even the preacher from New Orleans had missed the train The family continued to set the table with a plethora of homemade treats, including ice cream that was seasoned by boiling a whole vanilla bean in the milk; it was frozen in a huge cylinder without any inside fixtures to stir the mixture; it was whirled in the ice tub by hand-and a stout one at that-and required at least one hour, constant labor, to freeze the cream - while the bride fretted and wrung her hands in an upstairs room.
After the carriage had waited and waited at the station for the preacher to arrive, something had to be done. Although Mr. Jahleel Woodbridge, the missing minister, was a dear family friend, guests were getting fidgety and the poor bride was beside herself. General McCausland, the father of the bride and master of the house, took matters into his house and sent someone to fetch a neighboring Methodist preacher. This replacement wasted no time; he came straight from plowing his fields and presided over the ceremonies in his farm clothes. After the successful completion of the wedding rites, he congratulated her on her 'escape from the quicksands and shoals of celibacy' and headed back to his crops. Only moments after the hero of the day had taken his leave, Mr. Woodbridge came riding up to the house.
In the countryside right outside a bustling New Orleans, weddings were the large social affairs of the year. As indicated by Eliza and Dick's trials along their way to the ceremony, southerners were willing to go to great lengths to see their neighbors, friends and family members married. These same people also came, sometimes from great distances, to assist with the necessary wedding preparations.
Weddings were an expected rite of passage for young southern men and women. Girls were considered to be of marrying age once they were approximately 16 or 17 and had learned the necessary domestic skills it took to run an entire household. No wonder the bride that got married that particular day in November of 1846 was a nervous wreck: she had quite a daunting task ahead of her.
Citations